It looked like a gentle breeze could blow it over. The old barn had seen many harvests, been a safe house for cattle, and stored hay and corn husks. It was leaning to the left, and shivered as if it wouldn’t make it through another winter. Rather than pulling the sorry building down, the farmer […]

Have you ever had a branding moment? Something so catastrophic happens that it marks you for the rest of your life. You remember what you were wearing and the smells and sounds, and especially how you felt when it happened. Thinking about it makes those same emotions spring to life, and you are suddenly right

I love to accomplish things. There’s no better feeling for a person with my personality type than to make a long list of tasks, and then begin to cross them off. When I was a mom at home with small children, I would make my ILT ever day. That stood for my Impressive List of

It was a sight so arresting, it halted my journey up Christie Street. From the side of the curb, only inches from the street, were flowers growing from a minuscule break in the concrete. Beautiful purple cosmos bloomed where there should only be rock and pavement. There is a lesson here. More than “Bloom where you are

August 20, 2012 You and I may be the only people who remember the significance of this day. And you are gone, so there is only me. Thirty-five years ago, this day changed my life. Today my mind traveled winding paths of memory, thinking about you and us and what was and is. Of course, we thought

In 2003, I took gerontology online. Other than that, I haven’t been in school for decades.I still have two children finishing university degrees, but neither of them has lived at home for years. So why do back to school ads still make me edgy? As a kid, those ads meant an end to the fun

A dollar a day. The concept fascinated me. Could I change the world with a dollar a day? When our church challenged us to put this amount aside for missions, I was thankful that at this season of my life, I could do this. I am a concrete and visual learner, so I bought a

At 3:00 a.m., my mind isn’t functioning at the top of its game. When I rolled out of bed in response to my doggy’s summons, I stumbled into the hallway and hit the light switch. Nothing. Must be burned out. It wasn’t until I’d felt my way down the stairs that it occurred to me that all

We all have stuff. Nothing wrong with that.The problem comes when our stuff has us. The Parable of the StuffThere once was an elderly lady. She had lived lots of years, and now she wheezed when she walked and puffed when she got up and squinted when she tried to see. For all the years

The day had been a culinary disaster. I have a reputation as a good cook and an even better baker/dessert maker. At work, I am always trying new recipes, and usually they are great. Usually. The other day, I made something called “Strawberry Cream Dessert.” Cookie base, jello, cool whip, strawberries, orange juice.–sounds like the